Windmill



Feb. 2, 1937. v ANDREW 2,069,571

` WINDMILL Filed March 25, 1935 INVENTOR,

ym. ATT RNEY.

Patented Feb. 2, 1937 unirse STATES PATENT OFFIQE WINDMILL Vaughan L. Andrew, Superior, Wis.

Application March 25, 1935, Serial No. 12,815

9 Claims.

This invention relates to windmills, and has special reference to a novel oiling system therefor, and is an improvement over the type of oiling system illustrated in my former Patent NoY 1,579,343, granted to me April 6th, 1926.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide a windmill head wherein perfect balance and strength is accomplished by a new arrangement of gearing, allowing the wind wheel shaft to be placed in line with the mechanism housing thereby balancing the over-hang and placing the loads directly over the center of the tower. Beveled gears are used, and, operating in oil, they cause considerable pressure to be created therein, and this pressure is utilized in directing the flow of a portion of the oil so that it will lubricate the long bearing of the pinion shaft, and this forms another paramount object of my present invention.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a Windmill head which may be completely disassembled with a minimum of effort, so that the parts are readily accessible for repair or for other purposes.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of the oil reservoir and pinion shaft bearing assembly, of my improved windmill head.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a face elevation of my improved pinion.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Figure 2.

The oil reservoir or gear housing is indicated at I, toward one side of which the rocker arm 2 is pivotally supported as at 3, and the opposite or free end is attached to the pump plunger rod i as by the ball and socket joint indicated at 5. A bevelled ring gear is indicated at 6, it being xed to the shaft 'l each end of which extends through a side wall of the housing and is supported within a cup bearing member 8 removably attached to the side walls by means of tap bolts I0.

A pitman indicated at II connects the rocker arm 2 with an eccentric hub 9 integrally formed on the back of the gear 6, and as the gear rotates it causes the rocker arm to reciprocate, and the arm in its cycle of travel is raised and lowered above and below a plane with the uppermost circumferential edge of the gear, and when there is oil in the reservoir it is obvious that the same will be carried to a certain extent around on the gear l.

A laterally extending web l2 is formed on the side of the rocker arm, which web, between the pitman II and pivotal mounting 3, is provided with an oil groove or channel I3 communicating with the oil hole Id in the hub I and also with the oilhole I5 in the hub Il'. It is obvious also that during the reciprocation of the rocker arm some of the oil carried in the groove will be swashed over the hub I5 and be carried on the web I2 to the oil hole 32 and thereby lubricate the ball and socket joint 5. A bat-Wing shaped scraper is indicated at I8, it having integral therewith the hooked finger i9 which forms the pivotal connection of the scraper with the body portion of the arm 2, the inner extremity of the nger resting within the jaw-like bearing 2l! formed upon the upper edge of the outer wall of the channel I3. As the rocker arm reciprocates up and down, the scraper on the down stroke scrapes on the periphery of the gear t and removes therefrom a portion of the oil carried thereby and directs it into the channel I3 thereby providing lubrication for the pitman II and pivotal support 3 as well as the other moving parts of the rocker arm.

The power pinion is indicated at 2I, it being screw-threadedly mounted upon the end of the shaft 22, extending within the housing 23 to the blades of the windmill not shown. This pinion shaft housing 23 is bolted to the 011 reservoir by means of the bolts 24, upon removal of which bolts, the entire pinion, shaft, and housing assembly may be removed through the end of the reservoir I. An enlargement 25 is indicated on the upper surface of the pinion shaft housing, which enlargement is hollow and communicates with an oil hole 25 at the outer end thereof. In that portion of the pinion shaft bearing which extends within the reservoir I there is another oil hole 21 so that adequate means is provided to lubricate the shaft. Upon either side of the oil hole 2l within the housing I are provided a pair of upstanding webs 28 and 29, the latter being slightly higher than the other and tting snugly within the ring 30 fixed to the back of the pinion 2I. The thickness of the ring is but about half the depth of the pinion teeth, and thus between the teeth and under the ring are left openings 3|, there being one of such between each pair of teeth, and which openings provide a passage for CFI oil into the channel between the webs 28 and 29 and to the oil holes 21 and 26 and thereby lubricate the pinion shaft 22. For the return of the oil to the reservoir, I have provided the return chamber 34 at the lower end of the inner wall of which is an opening 35 communicating with the return oil passage 33 formed in the under side of the pinion shaft housing and which passage communicates with the reservoir I. Within the return chamber 34 there is a double oil slinger not shown to prevent leakage of oil through this end of the bearing. There may or may not be provided an opening in the bearing under the shaft so that oil may return through this opening to the reservoir.

Should the weather be cold and the oil not flow easily, the ring gear 6 would pick up the thick oil and transfer a portion of it to the pinion 2|, and, if too thick to readily pass through the openings 3l, the web 29, which extends within the ring 30, would scrape a sufficient quantityv of the oil therefrom and direct it intothe channel between the webs 28 and 29 to lubricate'the pinion shaft.

lThe removal of the ring gearV from the housing may be accomplished following the removal of the rocker arm assembly, by removing one of the cup bearings 8, when the ring gear may be slid laterally toward the side of the housing which would free the end of the shaft 1 from the other side of the housing, when the gear could be tipped up and easily kremoved from the housing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. Lubricating means for the pinion shaft bearing of a windmill head comprising a `.housing about said shaft and partially extending within said head, a pinion and shaft within said housing, a ring on the rear face of the pinion, and means for receiving oil from between the pinion teeth and under the ring and directing it to the shaft bearing.

2. A power pinion having a ring fixed to the rear face thereof, the radial distance between the two peripheries of said ring being less than the height of the gear teeth, and the periphery of the ring being coincident with the periphery of the gear teeth.

3. A power pinion having a ring fixed to the rear face thereof, the radial distance between the two peripheries of said ring being less than the height of the gear teeth and the inside diameter of the ring being greater than the distance between the roots of the teeth on opposite sides of the gear, leaving openings between the teeth and under'the ring.

4. Lubricating meanstfor the pinion shaft bearing of a windmill head comprising a housing about said shaft and partially extending within said head, a pinion, and a shaft extending Within said housing, a peripheral ring fixed to the rear of said pinion, and a scraper web fixed to said housing and extending within said ring to remove oil therefrom as the ring revolves about the housing.

5. Lubricating means for the pinion shaft bearing of a windmill head, comprising a pinion and shaft therefor, a bearing housing about the shaft, oil openings through said housing communicating with said shaft, a ring on the rear face of the pinion, means for supplying oil to said pinion, means on said housing extending within said ring for directing oil therefrom to said oil openings.

6. Lubricating means for the pinion shaft bearing of a windmill head, comprising a pinion and shaft therefor, a bearing housing about the shaft having openings therein providing access of oil to said shaft, a ring on theY rear face of the pinion, a scraper web on said housing contacting said ring for directing oil therefrom toward said openings, and an opening Yin the bottom of said housing providing means for the return of oil rom said shaft.

7. A pinion having a ring fixed to the rear face thereof, the diameter of the inside. of said ring being greater than the distance between the roots of the teeth on opposite sides of the gear, leaving openings between the teethv and under the ring. 8. The combination with a windmill head including cooperative bevel gears, one upon the driven shaft and oneupon the drive shaft, of a separable housing for said lhead comprising a principal part surrounding both gears and the driven shaft, and a second part surrounding and forming a bearing `for the'drive shaft and extending partially within the principal part of the housing, said second part beingexternally attached to the principal part whereby removal of the drive shaft and second part of the housing may be accomplished simultaneously.

9. Lubricating means for a bearing comprising a shaft within said bearing, a pinion on said shaft, a peripheral ring fixed to the rear of the pinion, the diameter of the inside ofthe ring being greater than the distance between the roots of the teeth on opposite sides of said pinion, leaving openings between the teeth and under the ring for the passage of oil, and means projecting from the bearing and within said ring for scraping oil therefrom as the ring revolves.

' VAUGHAN L. ANDREW. 

